Should pharmacies stock e-cigarettes?

 At least that's the recommendation by the behavioural insight team at the Cabinet Office in its first annual report.

So what exactly are e-cigarettes? Well the closest thing in terms of nicotine replacement therapy (NRT) products that you may have come across about is an inhalator. But unlike inhalators, e-cigarettes look and feel like the real thing. They deliver nicotine and tobacco flavouring in a vapour, and according to reports the smoke even tastes similar to that produced by cigarettes.

What they don't deliver  is the tar or any of the thousands of chemicals found in cigarettes. And they can be used in public places, as they are not banned under current smoking legislation.

The problem, however, is health professionals don't know enough about e-cigarettes. Experts from the World Health Organisation admit they don't know exactly what e-cigarettes contain and how they work. Makers of e-cigarettes, however, claim tests show their products aren't harmful.

It's enough to make any smoker's head hurt. One thing's for sure: e-cigarettes have a long way to go before they can be included in a pharmacist's smoking cessation range. There is, for instance, no firm evidence that supports the use of e-cigarettes as a smoking cessation device. And despite the fact that they mimic the act of smoking more closely than NRT products such as patches, gums, lozenges and even inhalators, e-cigarettes have not been proven to be better than anything you can currently get from your local pharmacy.

Why, then, is the government backing the use of e-cigarettes? You may well ask. Perhaps the insight team members believe any potential risks associated with devices such as the e-cigarette are worth taking when compared with the many major health risks we already know go hand-in-hand with using tobacco.

There again, shouldn't we make sure that any product designed to reduce harm to health is 100 percent safe – not to mention effective?

What are your views on the subject?